Origin Of Betta Splendens

Wild Betta Splendens with spade tail fin

Whats up... rainbow buddy, in this post we will explain the history of Betta Splendens from various sources that we can get. Let's check this out...

Before we start make sure you have read our previous article About Betta Fish, Ok now let's begin...

Betta fish was a fish that have a long history. In 1849 Theodor Cantor published an article about fighting fish which he later named Macropodus pugnax. In 1909 C. Tate Regan realized that Cantor's opinion was wrong and in fact the pugnax was a species that had previously existed in nature. Regan renamed Cantor's fighter fish with the name Betta splendens known today.

Actually all types of Betta splendens (betta) that are spread throughout the world come from short fin types a.k.a ปลากัด (Plā kạd) and for many years this type has been maintained by many people in Thailand. There they spawned these fighter fish with wild betta types. Their main goal is to get great fighters, both in terms of strength, size, fighting style and color.

This selection is done by crossing the betta from another breeder. The winner will be the model for the next generation of fighters.

Because there is no natural selection, after several generations, the betta obtained has a long pectoral and back fins. This fish does not have a "fighting soul" because it is not aggressive and cannot move quickly compared to other short fin betta . Betta with these long fins can only be enjoyed by beauty. Actually this type of betta has existed since Europeans and Americans came to Southeast Asia in 1850. Around the 1960s, Indian breeders managed to get betta fry that had two strands of caudal fin which were called doubletail types. A distinctive feature of this type is the very wide pectoral fin and slightly short body. Because they want to eliminate these characteristics, they cross the doubletail betta with a single fin type, but then the results obtained are precisely the various forms of the pectoral and abdominal fins.

Slowly the hobby of keeping ornamental fish began to hit Europe and America. Asia responded by doing large-scale crossing of long-tailed betta. Now the hobbyists in Europe and America are more selective in choosing their fish so that the characteristics of their fish are maintained. In 1960, American breeder Warren Young managed to cross the betta with very long fins and he named it "Betta Libby", according to his wife's name. These fish are then sold to hobbyists throughout the world and especially to farmers in Asia. This type then developed into a veiltail type.

Veiltail Betta

At the same time, the German breeder, Dr. Eduard Schmidt-Focke, crossing the first type of deltatail betta. This type has a symmetrical triangular tail. So in 1967 the IBC (International Betta Congres) was established. The purpose of IBC is to cross the betta which has wide and symmetrical fins. This type has better swimming capacity. But it takes a long time to produce this type. In 1980, well-known American breeders such as Peter Göettner and Paris Jones, developed a type of superdelta with very large fins. In 1984, Frenchman Guy Delaval imported this species to France. Delaval selects and crosses it to get a larger dorsal fin. In 1987, he managed to obtain fish with 180-degree fins. But Rajiv Massilamoni considers it impossible because usually a betta with a delta tail or asymmetrical superdelta has only a 160 degree angle. Laurent Chenot and Rajiv Massilamoni began working together to cross the betta to maintain this type.

Deltatail Betta

Super Deltatail Betta

But they too often mated the male with his relatives so that the fish will no longer approach the female. Finally they crossed the betta, the females came from Delaval, while the male was a type of doubletail melano of American descent. These fish are then named R39 and crossed with all types of female products from Chenot and Massilamoni. It turns out that some fish have 180 degrees of fins. In 1991 the American breeder named Jeff Wilson saw this fish and named it "halfmoon". He began collaborating with Chenot and Massilamoni and crossing American types and producing more halfmoon tillers. In 1993, Chenot, Massilamoni and Wilson showed their halfmoon fish at the IBC exhibition in Tampa Florida under the name CHENMASWIL. They won the "Best of show". This is the beginning of halfmoon fever.

Halfmoon Betta

In the past 5-10 years various types of fish with diverse fins have been discovered. Indonesian Breeder Ahmad Yusuf discovered a type of crowntail. This type has the characteristic fin bones growing beyond the fins. Therefore, it looks like a comb so that this fish is also called a combtail type.

Crowntail Betta

Thus, my friend, hopefully with the article Origin of Betta Splendens, it can add insight and enthusiasm for fans of Betta Fish to develop new types of Betta.

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